that I prepared meringue for a pie, then you were right!
Not just any pie, however. My mimi’s famous chocolate pie. Let me tell you a little story. Several family members have attempted to bake this chocolate pie but no one can get it right except for my mimi.
Until now.
They were very impressed with the chocolate pie at our Christmas party since no one has been able to make it correctly. (They don’t let it thicken up enough) Needless to say, it was a boost to my baking ego.
Filed under Baking, Holiday 2009
cookies for breakfast?
You remember those days. When you would desperately ask for a cookie before you have eaten your meal. Now, we have grown into adults that know cookies is not part of a balanced breakfast. But when we were children, we always asked for what we really wanted.
I channeled my inner child and my wannabe grown-up this morning with sugar cookie oatmeal.
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup water
1/2 banana
1 tsp maple syrup
splash of vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp white chocolate peanut butter
Topped with one of my mom’s freshly baked sugar cookies.
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. And dessert. Do you see a trend here?
My holiday bowl of oats were satisfying and delicious. However, they were too sweet, even for me. So next time I make sugar cookie oatmeal, I will omit the maple syrup. Give it a try! You won’t be disappointed. My oatmeal put me in a good mood for the rest of the morning!
What was your favorite food while you were a child? Mine was tuna casserole and anything brownie related 😉
The holiday season has turned me into good ol’ Martha Stewart. I have been baking up a storm here lately, and I love it! There is something about the smell of cookies in the oven and the breezy, cold air that brings a smile to my face. The baking project yesterday?
Gingerbread men! I prepared the dough the day before so that my cousin and step brother could cut them out and decorate them. It was interesting, to say the least. They are so anxious to learn as much as possible and work independently.
The boys were such great helpers!
The tip of the icing was too large to make into real gingerbread men so they used their mad skills to ice them like a sugar cookie. Creative thinkers in the making.
My mom’s perfectly decorated Christmas tree with perfectly wrapped Christmas presents to match the decor of the house.
I put my poorly wrapped and non-matching presents in the back, lol.. I guess I will get the hang of it sooner or later.
The past few weeks, on my blog, I have been focusing more on baking rather than healthy living but ’tis the season! I am still practicing yoga, eating well and keeping the cookie nibbles to a minimum.
How do you enjoy the Holiday season? Obviously, I bake!!
Filed under Baking, Holiday 2009
There was a can of pumpkin that has been sitting in the pantry leftover from Thanksgiving. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, an attempt recipe of Starbucks’ pumpkin loaf. I came up with this recipe and I have to say that there is a new rival in town!
Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin
1 & 1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1& 1/2 Â tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp ginger
Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Set aside.
In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Then add pumpkin, oil, milk, maple syrup and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Pour into 3 cinnamon sugared loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
My dad even loved these and he is impossible to please.
Enjoy a slice with a loved one during the holiday season! Or you could bake them and give them as gifts which is what I am doing with them.
Filed under Baking
I can’t believe that I moved back to the United States a year ago. Time sure does fly, doesn’t it? At the time I was anxious to move back to the states. I had been living in Sweden for about 2 years. It was an exciting and wonderful experience, I got to see the world from a different perspective which completely changed my view on life. But, I was tired of never completely understanding what was going on around me. I knew the language, yes.. but until you have experienced this, it is hard to explain the feeling. Although I am very excited to go back to Sweden for the holidays and visit my second home for awhile. I leave in 1 week!!
Anyway when I first moved back to the states with my newfound interest in food, wine and baking. My mom asked for me to bake Amish Friendship bread for her to bring for her coworkers as a Christmas gift. I tried them last year and I didn’t care for them but I never turn down a baking project. However, I don’t know if my baking skills have gotten better or if I messed up the recipe last year but holy yum!!! These are good this year. So moist and cinnamon-y.
My mom made the starter for me and I have been baking away this week. I have made 6 loaves and I have about 6-9 more loaves to go. Good thing I enjoy doing it!
The recipe is fairly common, I think. I got it from my aunt but I have no idea where she got the recipe from but I will post it for you guys anyway. 🙂
In a large bowl, mix together:
1 cup starter
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
In a separate medium bowl, combine the following ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1&1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon (I usually add more)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts (optional)
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared (I use cinnamon sugar) bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.
My first batch was a fail. They were burnt on the outside and not cooked on the inside, so I made the batch into three loaves instead of two and it hasn’t been a problem since.
I will let you in on a little secret to keeping any quick bread moist. Under cook it a bit so that there is still some dough coming off on the toothpick. Immediately after taking the quick bread out of the oven, remove it from the loaf pan and wrap it in a moist towel until it is completely cool. Then freeze the bread overnight. Make sure to let the bread sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. This method never fails to make moist quick bread for me.
There is a can of pumpkin in the pantry and I think that I know what I want to do with it 😉 An attempt at a Starbucks worthy pumpkin loaf is next on the agenda!
Filed under Baking
Today should become a national holiday.
Pre Thanksgiving Baking Day 🙂
Swedish Chocolate Cake
Innovative thinking, haha. No Kitchen Aid so I made do with what I had 😉
Pumpkin Rolls
Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
Maple Pumpkin Pie
Original Pecan Pie- that was a bit over done, whoops.
Original Pumpkin Pie
Lots+lots of baking. So fun, I love to bake!!
I didn’t escape the baking fun without fault, however.
Ouch!
Filed under Baking
Yesterday was my dad’s birthday.
It was also the day that I attempted baking my first birthday cake.
The cake looked like it could be showcased in the window of your corner bakery.
How was the taste?
It was okay. My family gave this cake raving reviews. It was moist and flavorful. The icing was fantastic. But, it contained sour cream which kind of threw me off. I went with it anyway. I don’t know if it is just the thought of sour cream in the icing or if it actually had a hint of a tangy flavor but the icing did not sit well with me. This cake needed to be served with vanilla ice cream to be enjoyed up to it’s full potential.
I am not trying to bash on this cake by any means. I am just not a birthday cake person. I prefer a fudge-like consistency to my baked goods. Or I could throw all of that out the window and let you in on a little secret…
I don’t like most baked goods hardly at all. Or let me rephrase that. I love to bake it but not to eat it. Honestly, I would choose a few dumle or wine gums over a cupcake any day.
Swedish candy is one out of the two top reasons why I am counting down the days until I leave for Sweden. The second is Hans. Yep, I am a candy lover. So sue me. I am sure they are full of HFCS and other naughty goodness but to be quite frank. I don’t care. I love my candy and I won’t stop eating it because some one tells me that I should. Who am I to take away such a pleasure?
Moving on. Back to the birthday cake. My dad loved it and despite his stubbornness for unwanted attention, enjoyed his birthday celebration.
What is your favorite candy? I can’t get enough of almost all of the candy in Sweden and of course my childhood favorite, Reese’s.
Handing out Halloween candy instead of going to a cool, grown up costume party was pretty lame of me. Being lazy, talking to Hans on msn and baking on a Sunday afternoon instead of going to a dia de los muertos festival downtown was another lame move. What can I say? I guess I am just lame, sometimes. I am cool with that.
What did I do instead of the festival?
Why baking, of course. I made a batch of toll house chocolate chip cookies by mom’s request. It’s an office birthday tomorrow. You know I can never turn down a baking assignment.
You can jazz up chocolate chip cookies however you’d like- with dried fruit, nuts, oatmeal but the tried and true always turn out the best.
Aren’t the gorgeous? They smelled heavenly.
The recipe made a butt load of perfect chocolate chip cookies.
Along with being my lame-self I made a lame dinner tonight. I am practicing major money saving skills since I need to buy a new laptop soon.
Save every last penny Poor Girl’s Wrap. A multi grain flat out spread with a thin layer of chipotle (spicy love) hummus, turkey slices, 1 slice of gouda and spinach.. warmed up on the skillet.
I am so excited for my first day back to work tomorrow!!!
What are some of your cheap meal ideas? I need help!
Hi!
I hope your Monday went well. (Oxymoron much?) Monday’s can only be okay, in my opinion… unless it’s a holiday 😉 Okay, guys.. to be completely honest. I have had no appetite at all today. I think it’s just from worrying and stress, that is how my body has always dealt with these type of things. I did manage to eat my usual apple as an afternoon snack.
I made Hans his granola breakfast bars this afternoon. I think I finally found the perfect measurements, so expect the recipe tomorrow sometime after they pass the taste test from Hans.
Dinner was a simple sweet potato. It’s all I wanted.
with a smear of butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon while catching up with my all time favorite tv show, Dexter. I also had a few clementines for dessert. They taste like fruit candy.
How do you deal with worrying and/or stress? Baking bread helps me a lot with stress. It is soothing for me to knead the bread, and watch it rise. Bread baking is by far my favorite way to prepare any type of food.
Inner Wellness 